Mike Nieto, William Navarro, and Jaydee Tungcab have all been re-activated for Gilas Pilipinas' clash against Korea on Sunday for its final game in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
The 6-foot-2 Nieto, who has been this young Filipino team's vocal leader, the 6-foot-6 Navarro, and the 6-foot-4 Tungcab were brought back to the lineup of coach Tab Baldwin after doing the yeoman's job in the first duel against the Koreans.
They did sit out the Philippines' 76-51 conquest of Indonesia on Friday.
Dwight Ramos, Filipino prodigy Kai Sotto, and naturalized center Ange Kouame are all expected to lead the Philippine team, which is looking to not just go undefeated at home in these series of games but also secure the top seed of Group A of the qualifiers.
Already qualified to the continental showpiece in August, Gilas improved to a 5-0 record in the qualifiers, but will surely come in motivated to prove that its 81-78 win over the Koreans last Wednesday was no fluke.
Rounding out the team are the backcourt combo of SJ Belangel and RJ Abarrientos, Justine Baltazar, Isaac Go, Jordan Heading, and Geo Chiu
Heading and Chiu were not in the lineup in the first win over the Koreans, but the two certainly made good impressions in their seniors team debuts.
Heading tallied three points, two rebounds, and two assists in 15 minutes of play, while Chiu was an added muscle with his four points and three rebounds.
Carl Tamayo, who suffered a grade one ankle sprain in the Indonesia game, will sit this final outing for the Philippines.